1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a display device module and a method for manufacturing the same, particularly a display device module in which line connecting portions are formed on an area adjacent to the device, to mount a device-driving unit onto a substrate and simplify various inspections to the device, and a method for manufacturing the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 1 is a plane view of a conventional organic electroluminescent device comprising a pixel circuit section. For convenience' sake, in the conventional organic electroluminescent device of FIG. 1, a cap is removed, and only one AA of a plurality of pixel circuit sections formed on a mother substrate is illustrated in the shape of block.
The pixel circuit section AA comprises anode electrodes formed on the mother substrate 1, an organic electroluminescent light emitting layer formed on the anode electrodes, and cathode electrodes formed on the organic electroluminescent light emitting layer.
Data lines 2A and scan lines 4A formed on the mother substrate 1 are electrically connected to the anode electrodes (not shown) and the cathode electrodes (not shown) formed in the pixel circuit section AA, respectively, end portions of the data lines 2A and the scan lines 4A are concentrated on a portion of the mother substrate 1 to form a pad P.
And, the reference numerals “4A-1” and “2A-1” not illustrated herein indicate connecting bars (so-called as “short bar”) connected to ends of the scan lines 4A and the data lines 2A, and play a role to connect a plurality of scan lines 4A and a plurality of data lines 2A each other. Also, the reference numeral “S” indicates a region to which the cap will be bonded.
In a lighting inspection and an aging process carried out after manufacturing the organic electroluminescent device, a jig or pin for power supply is contacted with any one of the scan lines 4A and any one of the data lines 2A. Thus, a signal (scan signal and data signal) is transmitted to the cathode electrodes and the anode electrodes in the pixel circuit section AA through the connecting bars 4A-1 and 2a-1 and all of the scan lines 4A and the data lines 2A.
In the lighting inspection, it is possible to verify a normal lighting state of the organic electroluminescent device through the above process. Also, in the aging process, an electrical signal (reverse bias voltage) is applied to the scan lines and the data lines to stabilize the organic electroluminescent device.
After the lighting inspection and the aging process are completed, the mother substrate 1 is cut along a scribe line L to make individual organic electroluminescent devices. At this time, the connecting bars 4A-1 and 2A-1 are separated from the device.
To connect the organic electroluminescent device (hereinafter, referred to as “panel”) and the device-driving unit (IC chip) as shown in FIG. 1, a film equipped with the device-driving unit (IC chip) is not used, but a so-called COG (chip on glass) type of display device module in which the device-driving unit is directly mounted onto the substrate on which the pixel circuit section is formed is used.
FIG. 2 is a plane view of the COG type of organic electroluminescent device module, showing that the device-driving unit 11 is mounted onto a substrate 10.
Compared with the COF (chip on film) type of device module utilizing a film on which the device-driving unit is mounted, the COG type of device module is advantageous in that the film and electrical external connecting member do not need, and a process for connecting the film on which the device-driving unit is mounted to the panel need not be conducted.
However, in order to manufacture the COG type display device module, an area 11 for mounting the device-driving unit should be provided on the substrate 10 constituting a panel (hereinafter, the reference numeral “11” means the device-driving unit). Accordingly, due to spatial limitation, no margin area exists between the device-driving unit 11 and the scan lines 14, and between the device-driving unit 11 and the data lines 12.
That is, as shown in FIG. 2, the data lines 12 connected electrically to the pixel circuit section (the pixel circuit section is not shown in FIG. 2 by a cap, but the reference numeral “13” indicates the pixel circuit section for convenience' sake, below) can be connected directly to the device-driving unit 11. However, since there is no margin area around the device-driving unit 11, the scan lines 14 arranged on both sides of the data lines 12 are connected to an opposite portion to a portion corresponding to the pixel circuit section 13 via both sides of the device-driving unit 11.
Due to such spatial limitation, it is difficult to form the connecting bars (not shown in FIG. 2; 4A-1 and 2A-1 in FIG. 1) for connecting the scan lines 14 and the data lines 12. Also, it is extremely difficult to perform the lighting inspection and the aging process for the device in which the connecting bars are not provided.
FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 are enlarged views of “A” section of FIG. 2, and show a relation between the scan lines 14 (14-1) and the device-driving unit 11 in the COG type of organic electroluminescent device module.
On the other hand, FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 show only a part of the device-driving unit 11 and a part of the scan lines 14, 14-1. The device-driving unit 11 is transparently shown to illustrate arrangement of the scan lines 14 and 14-1
As described above, the scan lines 14 connected to an opposite portion to a portion corresponding to the pixel circuit section (13 in FIG. 2) via the sides of the device-driving unit 11 do not have a connecting bar. In this state, each end of the scan lines 14 is connected to a connecting terminal 11-1 (hereinafter, referred to as “bump”) formed on the device-driving unit 11 (a state of FIG. 3).
In a different structure, a portion of each scan line 14-1 whose end is connected to a connecting bar 14A-1 may be connected to the bump 11-1 of the device-driving unit 11 (a state of FIG. 4).
As shown in FIG. 3, if the connecting bar is not formed on the scan lines 14, it is difficult to carry out the lighting inspection and the aging process for the panel.
That is, if the device-driving unit 11 is not mounted on the substrate 10, it is difficult to contact a pin or jig for inspection to all the scan lines 14 separated from each other. In particular, when a pin or jig is used, a short may be occurred by contact with adjacent scan lines disposed at a narrow interval during the lighting inspection or the aging process.
In addition, due to a jig or pin contacted with the scan line 14 formed in the shape of thin conductive layer, a scratch may be happened on the scan line 14, or the scan line 14 can be peeled from the substrate 10 (so called as “peeling phenomenon”).
In order to prevent these problems, it is preferable that the lighting inspection or the aging process is carried out after the device-driving unit 11 is mounted on the substrate 10. However, it has a drawback that the expensive device-driving unit 11 should be abandoned with the panel if the inspection or the aging process determines the panel defective.
The same problem may be happened in the data lines 12 which do not have the connecting bar.
As shown in FIG. 4, in the structure that the scan lines 14-1 are connected to the connecting bar 14A-1, if a pin or jig for inspection is contacted with only one scan line 14-1, a signal is transmitted to all the scan lines 14-1 via the connecting bar 14A-1. Accordingly, although the device-driving unit 11 is not mounted onto the substrate 10, it is possible to carry out the lighting inspection and the aging process.
In this structure, however, the connecting bar 14A-1 formed on the substrate 10 should be separated from the scan lines 14-1 prior to mounting the device-driving unit 11 after completing the lighting inspection and the aging process. To do so, a laser scribing process should be additionally performed to cut the scan lines 14-1 along a scribe line L1.
In FIG. 3 and FIG. 4, the structure and arrangement of the scan lines 14 and 14-1 are described, but each data line 12 connected to the device-driving unit 11 has the same structure and function. Accordingly, the description thereon is omitted.